Is it too tough to be a centrist Democrat?
Facing a backlash from the liberal wing of their party, Sen. Evan Bayh and other centrist Democrats are examining their re-election options and deciding to simply walk away, political analysts note.
“Because Democrats are scared, some people are saying ‘it’s not worth it … there’s not a place for my voice,’ ” said political analyst Jennifer Donahue. “It’s looking like an exodus — between him and Sen. Chris Dodd and open seats that look like they could easily be Republican pickups.”
But it not’s just centrist Democrats feeling the heat from the edges of their party — former GOP Rep. J.D. Hayworth announced on Monday that he would take on Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party’s last presidential candidate, in his home state of Arizona.
Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, announced Monday that he will not seek re-election in November. Bayh is the third Democratic senator to announce he is retiring. Dodd of Connecticut and Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota previously said they would not seek re-election.
“Congress is not operating as it should,” Bayh said at a news conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, adding there’s too much partisanship and “the people’s business is not getting done.”
Bayh said he loves public service, but does “not love Congress” and is “not motivated by strident partisanship or ideology.”
He cited the Senate’s recent failure to pass a jobs bill and legislation that would have created a deficit reduction commission as evidence of what he characterized as a broken political system.
Donahue said it’s simply becoming too difficult to be a centrist Democrat these days.
“You have so much pressure coming at the president from the left flank of the party and so much pressure embedded in Congress on the left,” Donahue said. “I think he’s frustrated. I think Democrats have to take a good, hard look at what they’re doing to the centrists in their party and why. It’s not a winning formula to push out the centrists, so why?”
CNN Senior Political Analyst Gloria Borger said Bayh “feels that he doesn’t have much of a home in the Democratic party anymore.”
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